Abstract
The EU’s search for a new China strategy is driven by the fear of economic dependence on China. There are also concerns about reprisals, particularly in the form of economic sanctions. In official statements, China rejects the use of sanctions and historical data show that it has used sanctions very rarely compared to the USA. On closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that China does leverage its growing economic power to put pressure on other countries, albeit not in the form of officially declared sanctions. Against the background of empirical studies on the effectiveness of economic sanctions, we discuss the prospects of success of this policy. We show that the vulnerability of Western European countries has increased during the past few decades.